Japan's Sengoku Period: The Sanada Clan's Ambition

Chapter 11 Uesugi Kagekatsu: So I'm this strong?
Kasugayama Castle.

When news of the fall of Tagiri Castle reached them, Murakami Kunikiyo, who was left to guard Kasugayama Castle, panicked.

Without a second thought, Murakami Kunikiyo mounted his horse and galloped wildly westward, hoping to catch up with Uesugi Kagekatsu as soon as possible.

Not long after they left, they discovered that Uesugi Kagekatsu had already returned.

"Lord!"

Uesugi Kagekatsu, who was riding on horseback, waved his hand and said, "There's no need to say anything more, I already know about the matter."

Uesugi Kagekatsu is only twenty-seven years old this year, and he has only been the head of the Uesugi family, the hegemon of the Hokuriku region, for a few short years.

In 1578, Uesugi Kenshin passed away, and the Uesugi family erupted into the "Otate Rebellion" due to the issue of succession.

Uesugi Kenshin had two adopted sons at the time: Uesugi Kagekatsu and Uesugi Kagetora.

Uesugi Kagekatsu is the son of Nagao Aya, the older sister of Uesugi Kenshin, while Uesugi Kagetora is a hostage sent by the Hojo family.

At that time, the "Kō-Sō-Sūgane Alliance" broke down because the Takeda clan attacked the Imagawa clan in Suruga. The Hojo clan then made peace with the Uesugi clan and sent Uesugi Kagetora to Echigo to become the adopted son of Uesugi Kenshin.

After Uesugi Kenshin's death, Uesugi Kagekatsu and Uesugi Kagetora fought fiercely for the right to inherit the throne, with Uesugi Kagekatsu ultimately emerging victorious.

"I only just received the news myself. How did you, my lord, learn of the fall of Takiri Castle?" Murakami Kunikiyo asked, looking puzzled.

Uesugi Kagekatsu replied with concern, "You don't need to worry about that. Tell me about the Oda clan's movements."

Uesugi Kagekatsu kept getting the latest updates from Murakami Kunikiyo as he drove back.

When Uesugi Kagekatsu learned from Murakami Kunikiyo that the Oda clan's army had captured Tagiri Castle and advanced to Nihonki, he was still shocked by the news, even though he had been prepared.

"The Oda clan is moving so fast."

Looking back at Sanada Nobuyoshi behind him, Uesugi Kagekatsu couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

If Sanada Nobuyoshi hadn't informed Oda Nobunaga of his military plans in advance, he probably would already be in Echigo Province by now, and it would be too late to return to Kasugayama Castle.

"Minister of War, you should return to Kasugayama to prepare for defenses. I will follow shortly."

Murakami Kunikiyo quickly accepted the order.

Murakami Kunikiyo is the son of Murakami Yoshikiyo, a member of the Shinano Kunishi clan.

Murakami Yoshikiyo had a love-hate relationship with Takeda Shingen in Shinano, but ultimately he was no match for the Takeda family and fled to the Uesugi family. After Murakami Yoshikiyo's death, Murakami Kunikiyo was adopted by Uesugi Kenshin into the Yamaura clan (a branch of the Uesugi family) and received a fief of 40,000 koku.

Murakami Kunikiyo thus became the second most important member of the Uesugi family after Uesugi Kagekatsu (during the time of Uesugi Kenshin).

During the Otate Rebellion, he supported Uesugi Kagekatsu and was later bestowed the character "Kage" upon him, so he was also called Yamaura Kagekuni (therefore, Murakami Kunikiyo and Yamaura Kagekuni are the same person).

"Oki no Kami, thanks to you this time."

After Murakami Kunikiyo left, Uesugi Kagekatsu, still shaken, spoke to Sanada Nobuyoshi behind him.

Sanada Nobuyoshi said calmly, "I was just a messenger; it was all Genzaburo's idea."

“Sanada Genzaburo, huh? He’s quite an interesting person.” Uesugi Kagekatsu rarely showed a smile. “I didn’t expect that there would be someone among the Takeda retainers who admired Kenshin so much.”

After saying that, Uesugi Kagekatsu looked up and closed his eyes, seemingly reminiscing about Uesugi Kenshin.

If Uesugi Kenshin were still alive, the Uesugi family would not be in such a passive situation.

Sanada Shin'yō's lips twitched; he really couldn't interrupt Uesugi Kagekatsu.

"The main family has agreed to the Sanada family's request."

"If our clan can repel this attack from the Oda clan and preserve our territory, we will recognize the Sanada clan's acquisition of Shinano after the matter is accomplished," Uesugi Kagekatsu continued.

Sanada Nobuyoshi quickly bowed and thanked him, saying, "Thank you, my lord."

"No need to thank me. Whether the Sanada family can get what they want depends on whether our main family can escape this calamity."

To be honest, Uesugi Kagekatsu was also surprised when he learned of this. He had never imagined that the Sanada family would think so highly of him.

Was I really that strong?

But no matter what, being favored by others is always a good thing, especially since the Sanada family had conveyed an important message to him.

As for the Sanada family's hope to gain the Uesugi family's recognition of the Takai and Yamauchi districts after the war, Uesugi Kagekatsu was indifferent to it.

The Uesugi family is about to fall, so giving them this empty promise is pointless.

Given the current situation, the Uesugi clan is facing an attack by tens of thousands of Oda clan troops and is in danger of being annihilated at any moment.

The Sanada family, a mere powerful clan in Shinano, actually believed they could withstand the Oda family's attack. If you were to resurrect Uesugi Kenshin, there might still be a chance.

Anyway, Uesugi Kagekatsu didn't have that confidence.

On May 28th, Uesugi Kagekatsu returned to Kasugayama Castle. At this time, Mori Nagayoshi's army had arrived in Nihonki and was fighting against Kamijo Kageharu, who was defending the area.

Kageharu Kamijou didn't have many men under his command, and Kagekatsu Uesugi knew that Nihonbashi couldn't be held for long, so he had already prepared to besiege Kasugayama Castle.

"Here is the petition document. Take it." In the Kasugayama Castle keep, Uesugi Kagekatsu handed the petition document bearing the red seal (daimyo's seal) and his own monogram (anti-counterfeiting mark) to Sanada Nobuyoshi.

Sanada Nobuyoshi solemnly accepted it and then carefully put it into his bosom.

A swearing document (kigenbun) is a type of oath document used to swear to the gods that one will never break the agreement when signing it. During the Warring States period, daimyo would exchange swearing documents for various purposes, such as truce, alliance, or marriage, to confirm the other party's sincerity.

This is a formal document with strong binding force and credibility among samurai, and it is generally rare for anyone to violate it (except for a few samurai with low moral standards).

On the 29th, Mori Nagayoshi defeated Kamijou Kageharu and captured Nihonki.

"Musashi-no-kami, shouldn't we continue our advance towards Kasugayama Castle?" At the victory celebration banquet that evening, Izuura Morikiyo, who was very close to Mori Nagayoshi, asked.

Mori Nagayoshi put down his wine glass and slowly said, "According to the scouts' report, Uesugi Kagekatsu has abandoned his plan to support Uozu Castle and has returned to Kasugayama Castle with his army."

"In this way, we have achieved our objective and there is no need to continue the attack."

Although Mori Nagayoshi was confident in his martial prowess, he was not stupid. He did not believe that his few thousand men could take down the heavily guarded Kasugayama Castle.

His deployment this time was merely to contain Uesugi Kagekatsu as planned, and to provide support to Shibata Katsuie in Etchu.

Now that our objective has been achieved, we can simply wait for good news from Vietnam and China.

“Gensaburo, I have witnessed Sanada’s valiant fighting during this campaign to Echigo.”

"Once the Uesugi clan is defeated, I will personally report to my lord the merits of the Sanada clan," Mori Nagayoshi said, looking at Sanada Nobuyuki with satisfaction.

From the time of the Imokawa uprising onwards, the Sanada family has consistently demonstrated exceptional initiative.

During this attack on Echigo, the Sanada clan was the only Shinano vassal state that was able to keep up with the Oda clan's offensive pace, and they also achieved considerable success along the way, making remarkable contributions.

Sanada Nobuyuki took the lead and killed seven Uesugi samurai.

Such a young samurai is enough to make Mori Nagayoshi look at him in a different light.

"Thank you, Musashi, for guarding the palace. The Sanada family is deeply grateful."

Sanada Nobuyuki remained remarkably calm in the face of Mori Nagayoshi's praise.

He was mainly anxious; he wondered when the news would reach Shinano.

Judging by the timeline, it should be around these next two days.

Omi, Azuchi Castle.

Oda Nobunaga rode his horse out of the castle.

Looking back at the majestic Azuchi Castle behind him, Oda Nobunaga felt a surge of pride.

Soon, soon.

Once the Mori and Chosokabe tribes are defeated, the Kyushu region will likely surrender without a fight.

At that time, the world will be at peace.

On the 29th, Oda Nobunaga left Azuchi Castle and entered Kyoto.

He came to Kyoto mainly for two reasons.

The first thing was that Hideyoshi Hashiba, who was attacking the Mori clan, asked Oda Nobunaga for help. Hideyoshi Hashiba and the Mori clan had been locked in a stalemate at Takamatsu Castle in Bitchu for a long time. Even with the bizarre tactic of "flooding Takamatsu Castle", he still could not make a breakthrough.

Therefore, Oda Nobunaga decided to dispatch Akechi Mitsuhide with reinforcements from Tanba, Tango and other places to support Hashiba Hideyoshi.

The second thing was that the Chosokabe clan of Shikoku rejected the Oda clan's demand for submission (Chosokabe Motochika could not accept the proposal to cede Sanuki, Awa, and Awaji provinces while retaining only Tosa province). Oda Nobunaga then ordered his son, Oda Nobutaka, to be the commander-in-chief and lead the Kinai army to conquer Shikoku.

Oda Nobunaga himself will also personally go to Shikoku to fight. The army has now been assembled at Sakai Port and is ready to depart. On his way to Sakai Port, Oda Nobunaga will also make a detour to Kyoto to pay homage to the Heavenly Locust.

That evening, Oda Nobunaga stayed at Honnoji Temple in Kyoto.

Oda Nobutada also followed Oda Nobunaga to Kyoto and stayed at Myokaku-ji Temple, which was not far away.

At the same time, Mitsuhide Akechi also concluded the renga performance held at Kameyama Castle.

A light rain began to fall from the sky.
　Initially, the Oda clan's strategy toward Shikoku was primarily one of appeasement, with no intention of resolving the issue through force.

　　The person responsible for communicating with Chosokabe Motochika was Akechi Mitsuhide.

　　However, because Chosokabe Motochika refused to agree to Oda Nobunaga's understanding, the negotiations reached a stalemate, and Oda Nobunaga, losing patience, decided to send troops to attack Shikoku.

　　Despite Mitsuhide's best efforts, he could neither change Oda Nobunaga's decision nor secure the opportunity to lead troops into battle in Shikoku as a legion commander.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)